Jess Glynne Refuses To Give Song 'Promise Me' to Rihanna: 'I'm An Artist, Too!'

Singer/songwriter Jess Glynne dismissed her management team in 2022 after meeting with the vice chairman of Roc Nation.

Jay Brown, who together with Jay-Z co-founded the entertainment organization, met with Glynne that year to talk about her ballad "Promise Me," which he thought was a good fit for Rihanna.

"No, you're not sending it to Rihanna," Glynne recalled in an interview with The Daily Mail.

I mean, it was the biggest compliment, but I was, 'It's my song, and I'm an artist, too.'"

According to Glynne, she and Brown talked for hours, discussing a possible working relationship. "I left that meeting and thought, 'Who's to say I can't fire my team?'" she said.

Glynne's decision was sealed by a personal tragedy. She returned to London in 2022 with a newfound sense of purpose after losing a close friend earlier in the year.

"Choose what makes you happy," she said. "Be true to yourself. Life is precious. That's when I knew I had to let go of my team. My friend was very spiritual-she would have understood what I needed. I thought, 'Do this, Jess, and make your friend proud.'"

After firing her label and management group, Lynne is currently signed to Roc Nation and releases music on the EMI label. The label's employees, according to her, are amazing women who just want to see her succeed.

Glynne just dropped three tracks off her upcoming third album, which is scheduled for release in 2024. The songs "Friend of Mine," "Silly Me," and "What Do You Do?" are all anticipated to be included on the album.

Additionally, she gave the first-ever live performance of "Promise Me" in the UK at The Hawley Arms in Camden, a bar that Amy Winehouse, her contemporaries, was known to frequent.

ALSO READ: Jess Glynne 'Silly Me': Pop Star Drops Comeback Song After Being 'Lost' in Her Career

With just a single piano for accompaniment, Glynne's normally powerful vocals were toned down to something softer and more poignant for the special showcase in October. "I feel very proud of myself," she said. "I'm like, 'You did all of that on your own. You took all those meetings. You flew yourself out there.'

She said she now wants other women and young girls to feel equally empowered to make their own decisions and choose their own path.